Meaning & use
staff
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Meanings
noununcountable
The people who work for a company, school or other organization.
Grammar: A collective noun: American English usually takes a singular verb, British English may take plural.
Patterns
- on the staff
- a member of staff
The hospital staff worked through the night.
She joined the teaching staff last year.
We have a staff of fifty.
nouncountable
A long stick used to help you walk, or as a symbol of power or office.
Grammar: The plural is staffs or staves.
The old man leaned on a wooden staff.
The bishop carried a staff as a symbol of his office.
The shepherd planted his staff in the ground.
nouncountablemusic
The set of five lines on which music is written.
Grammar: Also called stave in British English.
She placed a note on the top line of the staff.
The treble clef starts every staff in the piece.
He drew a staff on the board.
verbtransitive
To supply an organization with workers.
Grammar: Usually passive: the clinic is staffed by volunteers.
Patterns
- be staffed by someone
The center is staffed by trained nurses.
The company staffed the new office with local workers.
The help desk is staffed around the clock.
Word forms
| plural | staffs (for the stick) or staves |
|---|---|
| third person singular | staffs |
| past tense | staffed |
| past participle | staffed |
| -ing form | staffing |
Common combinations
- staff member
- Each staff member receives a badge.
- teaching staff
- The teaching staff meets every Monday.
- short-staffed
- The restaurant is short-staffed on weekends.
- staff meeting
- A staff meeting is scheduled for noon.
- on staff
- The firm has two lawyers on staff.
- staff shortage
- A staff shortage closed the library early.
Synonyms and how they differ
- personnel
- Personnel is a formal word for employees, often used by large organizations or the military.
- workforce
- Workforce means all the people available to work in an organization or country, and it is broader than staff.
- employees
- Employees are individuals who work for someone; staff is the group as a whole.
- crew
- Crew suggests a team working together on a specific job, such as a ship or film.
Word family
- staffer noun
- a member of staff, especially for a politician or a newspaper
- staffing noun
- the process of providing workers
- understaffed adjective
- not having enough workers
- overstaffed adjective
- having too many workers
Commonly confused: staff or stuff?
staff vs stuff
Stuff means things or material in general. Staff means the employees, or a stick.
Practice
The help desk is ___ by volunteers every evening.
Choose one answer.
A passive verb is needed after is, so staffed is correct. Staffing and staffs do not fit after is plus by, and staff alone is a noun here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “staff”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.